Soldiers are targeting drones with new scopes that use artificial intelligence (AI) to launch them from the sky.
Paratroopers from Colchester's 16th Air Assault Brigade were equipped with SmartShooter SMASH technology for the first time this week.
The Defense Ministry said it gave soldiers on the ground a “high probability” of shooting down the target.
They received training this week on how to use new technology.
SmartShooter used image processing software to detect “uncrewed air systems” within the scope's field of view before targeting, tracking, and predicting their movements.
Rifles equipped with this technology are only allowed to fire when they are calibrated to hit.
WO Joe Cooke, who leads the brigade's small arms training, said the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East demonstrate the threat and capabilities of unmanned aircraft.
“The current option to target drones is to simply shoot them, but drones are small, mobile targets that are very difficult to attack,” he said.
“We have medics and signallers in this course, but in their roles they don't use rifles as much as infantrymen, and they fire with accuracy that we've never achieved before.”
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